Some cheese marathon arose last weekend ...it started when i got 30ltrs Milk from the Farming School ...first decisions decisions , which cheese to make .My selection came to the following 1) Reblochon 2)double Cream Brie 3) Jarlsberg

1st day- 1st cheese Reblochon is a cheese which uses red mold and also white mold it is also a washed rind and very distinct flavor ….Form the 30 ltr milk i recieved today i decided to use 8 ltr of it for making reblochon.I used basically the instruction from a book called " 200 easy Homade cgheese recipes " but also added a pinch of Geotrichum Candidum .Here the recipe:8tr Milk1/4 tsp Mesophilic culture 1/8 tsp Brevibacterium linens ripening bacteria ( it is the red mold and will call it "red mold" in future posts too)1/4 tsp calcium chloride ( diluted with 1/4 cup unchlorinated cool water)1/4 tsp liquid rennet ( diluted with 1/4 cup unchlorinated cool water)1/64 tsp ( pinch ) Geotrichum Candidum

I first brought the milk to 85 F/29 C and added the Calcium Chloride did stir it with the skimmer in up and down movement..next i sprinkled Mesophilic culture ( which in my case was flora danica - this is a kind of mesophilic starter , i use it because i want mine used before expiration ) , Geotrichum & Red Mold and let stand to rehydrate for 5 min....then i stir it again with a skimmer with an up and down movement .Let it stand to ripen for 15 min.

After the ripening i added the diluted rennet and stir again the same as described before . Let set for 40 min until a clean break was achieved ( make sure that the milk still remains about the same temperature of 85 F/29C )

After 40 min i used a long knife and cut the curds into dices of about 2-3 cm and wait 5 minuted.....slowly raised the temperature to 95 F/29C and use a whisk and slowly break the curds into even smaller pieces( just slowly move that whisk ). ...this process should take about 35 min until temperature is reached ...avoid a too quick heating.

Next i removed the whey to a level where i could see the curds again( the curds sank). . Then the curds where transferrred with a skimmer to the cheesemold ( i kept the whey aside for use in making ricotta)

now the cheesemolds are being closed with the follower and every 30 min ( for the next 2 hrs) i turned the cheeseand back into the mold again.

After the 2 hrs have elapsed i put an weight of 5lbs/2,5kg on each of the cheesemolds...as you can see i just used what i found in the kitchen(its a blue tissue holder filled with sugar and salt bags) ...if you have a cheese press on hand you would use that.

Under this light pressure the chese remains for the next 12 hours flipping it over on time after 6 hrs.......

Here some pictures:

1st day - 2nd cheese: Ricottause all the whey from production of the above cheese and heat to 200F ( 94 C) add 1/4 cup of vinegar, stir and take off the stove ...let set & you will see some curds forming...with the skimmer put these curds in a cheescloth lined colander and let drain....the longer you drain them the drier the ricotta will be. When desired consistency is reached put it in a container and refrigerate ( you may also add salt , herbs or spices to suit your taste)

i found the curds were a bit softer this likely because of the heavy cream used ... as you can also see i used tomme molds which isn't quite 20 cm as the "half"brie should be, but 17 cm ...also for the brie the descriptions say to use hoops but mine one has a bottom ...anyways i hope it works out without any issues ...

here the pictures:

with the whey i did again make ricotta same as day before ...it became a bit more creamier because of the heavy cream being used.

Before i post the next cheese here is the Brie coming out from the mold and transferred to the Ripening container & into the fridge which has around 15 celsius 59 Fahrenheit....

The truth about temperature is, just about every book and website i have looked up tells me something else....the one says 12 C the other 18 C ...and since my camembert ( he is a "relative" to the brie) was doing well on 15 C it will be 15 C maybe a little lower once the first mold appears because the Brie is thicker and thus a slower maturing is likely the healthier way to go.

Anyways here some pics of the Brie ,yesterday morning:I salted the cheese on both sides:

and in the ripening container which will be stored in the fridge:

It was all good and just on time because i needed the Cheese molds for the next Cheese...the jarlsberg

------------------------------------------------

Day 3 - cheese #4

The final cheese of the last 3 days was Jarlsberg. What is a jarlsberg ? Some mix of a baby gouda and swiss emmental cheese. Jarlsberg originates from Norway .why did i choose to make it ? I do like the taste, and it is a cheese which has a higher difficulty in making it....this included washing curds,this curds should also reach a certain firmness before they are coming into mold, pre-pressing in whey and pressing it (without having a cheesepress :-) ) ...i would have also liked to measure ph levels with a ph meter but it seems the sensor is off and needs to be replaced.

Last but not least....i had to make the curds in 2 different pots side by side .... on Saturday i wanted to buy a nice big stainless steel pot but my wife insisted we have a big stainless steel pot somewhere....yeah !.. but she hasn't found it yet :-)

when i took some of the whey out to "wash the curds" i put some of the whey into the cheesecloth lined mold ...this cheese is pressed with whey . "washing the curds" i remove whey and replace it with water ...the acidity will be lower the cheese & curds are more elastic and "sweeter" in taste.

first turnaround and re-wrap

My hi-tech cheese press :-)

having it turned around and rewrapped a few times it now looks like this:

12 hours Brining :

After Brining:

Transferred in the Box and right now this box is sitting next to me in the Office( air-conditioned) as the cheese dries off ...

I might make a few observations and comments. Another possible resource for any future Reblochon effort could be here. You may see your "Red Mold" referenced on the forum as "linens", "B linens", or "BL". The recipe in the 200 Easy Cheese Recipes book calls for a thermophilic culture to be used in Jarlsberg, which is incorrect. The recipe from The New England site uses a mesophilic, which would have been more appropriate for the style. I attached another example of Jarlsberg recipe for your future consideration.

IMHO, your Brie wheels may be a little bit thick to ripen successfully. They ripen from the outside towards the center. Yours may ripen totally near the rind before the center has a chance to ripen.

You may wish to reconsider the bamboo mats. They can harbor infections that are difficult to remove. Plastic is better.

All that being said, you have performed a marvelous feat with your cheese marathon. Kudos!

I might make a few observations and comments. Another possible resource for any future Reblochon effort could be here. You may see your "Red Mold" referenced on the forum as "linens", "B linens", or "BL". The recipe in the 200 Easy Cheese Recipes book calls for a thermophilic culture to be used in Jarlsberg, which is incorrect. The recipe from The New England site uses a mesophilic, which would have been more appropriate for the style. I attached another example of Jarlsberg recipe for your future consideration.

IMHO, your Brie wheels may be a little bit thick to ripen successfully. They ripen from the outside towards the center. Yours may ripen totally near the rind before the center has a chance to ripen.

You may wish to reconsider the bamboo mats. They can harbor infections that are difficult to remove. Plastic is better.

All that being said, you have performed a marvelous feat with your cheese marathon. Kudos!

-Boofer-

Thanks a lot Boofer ...great info !The Reblochon link you gave is great and very detailed too...just waiting for my ph-meter to return from repairs and i can start another one again :-) .There are a lot of abbreviations here used and am always grateful for finding out the full name of it....in case of the red mold i knew the linens or B. Linens/BL could be that.I smell on the Reblochon today and it starts to develop the "munster" scent ... :-)

While i made the Jarlsberg i came to the point where i usually compare recipes and cheesemaking.com vs 200 recipe Book said different starter cultures...i went with the Thermophilic starter as i saw the somewhat "relation" to the Emmenthal/swiss - but i guess it went with the wrong choice ....(will i have a Gruyere developing now ?) ...but i shall do it next time with Mesophilic starter. Still wanting to use my Flora Danica ...that suitable for use as mesophilic on jarlsberg?That recipe you attached is very detailed and step by step but has something i never heard of which is :Choozit ALP LYO 100 DCU & 1 x Holdbac YM-B LYO 100 DCU what is that stuff ? I wanted to also ask...jarlsberg seems to be made waxed and unwaxed? I have some red cheesewax at home and i read some brushed it with olive oil ...but what is the better choice ?

here some jarlsberg pics from today :

You are right i wondered that too about the Brie, maybe too thick.... do you think if i mature them in a slight lower temperature field would that be better ? There is one cheese i recall which had white mold too and it was like a double or triple layer cake ...some speciality this cheese , would be interesting to know if this is a complete different recipe to brie or if they do a different maturing ...sucks that i can't recall the name and google wasn't of help yet either

Well noted about the Mats....i haven't seen the plastic ones in Thailand yet, so i will have to think of an plastic alternative to these mats or order abroad . Does it make sense if i would switch these mats now? The cheese is sitting since about 5 days on the Bamboo mats , if i find something suitable made of plastic i could just change it .

I just made an alpine yesterday using Alp D and Holdbac. See the attachments at the end of that posting.

From The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company:"The acidifying culture to use is quite similar to those used in the Gouda style cheese production. This is not a Thermophilic culture as listed in other Jarlsberg guidelines but is an aromatic style culture such as the MM100 or Flora Danica."

I just made an alpine yesterday using Alp D and Holdbac. See the attachments at the end of that posting.

From The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company:"The acidifying culture to use is quite similar to those used in the Gouda style cheese production. This is not a Thermophilic culture as listed in other Jarlsberg guidelines but is an aromatic style culture such as the MM100 or Flora Danica."

Thanks Boofer , used vinegar and it seems to keep the invaders in the check ....i noticed it develops a little red "cover " ...not sure if that a mold but i think it is something that i shouldn't rub off .

It smells already very nice and have slight swellings from the probionic too. Can't wait to cut it for the first bite....still a pretty long wait, it is only 14 days young